day 9/5
March 29
Today started at 4 AM wakeup and at morning chow by five. At 6 AM we were taken to a room for a piss test to insure we have no illegal substances in our body. By 8 AM we started the non lethal training in full battle gear, let me tell you 60 lbs of armor and gear took its toll on me by 7 PM tonight. The training consisted of the following; military paint ball guns, one which we use at home for our paint ball wars in the summer and the other a military version which will kill if you hit the target in the head or chest. Station two was the tazzer gun. This bad boy will ruin your day. We could no longer shoot at each other due to a pending incident in which a soldier was killed. But I did fire it into a fake target which let you see how the electric current flows through a body. Third station was hand to hand combat using the aggressor’s movements to your advantage. At one point during a demonstration I was totally at the mercy of a female instructor that was about five feet tall and weighed 120 lbs. (the shit works). Forth station was baton training to include defense and offence as well as restraining victoms’ once on the ground. Fifth station was a class on arresting and detaining the bad guys. Sixth station was crowd and riot training with full body protection and the clear shield like you would see in the news when the police are squaring off with an unruly crowd. This was a lot of fun but very intense as it all happens to fast with so many teams and formations to direct. Along with that you must try to control the situation without letting it escalate and decide when to use lethal or non lethal force.
After the non lethal training we had Arabic language training until supper. This is computer based and very painful. After trying to understand and learn Arabic In my opinion it is no wonder they are a third world country.
After chow was squad meeting and packed and prepared gear for tomorrows training. We also were issued a 9 mm pistol for our secondary weapon. We now have both weapons in our possession until we return from Iraq. This is a pain in the but as they must be with us at all times. Only exception is to have a battle buddy secure your weapon while in the shower and this type of thing and then switch out. You do not want to know what could happen If a military weapon becomes unaccounted for.
Tomorrow we have a 5:30 AM wake up and start our weapons training with the m4 rifle, 9 mm pistol, m240 machine gun and m249b machine gun. We have to qualify with the m4 and 9mm to include night fire and NBC fire (NBC) means qualifying with the gas mask on. So tomorrow will be about a 20 hour day in full battle gear again.